Field of Invention
This invention relates generally to electronic musical instruments, and more particularly to an electronic instrument that enables non-musicians to create and play enjoyable music.
Traditional instruments, electronic or not, require certain skills that must be developed. Usually, the player must practice to gain a fair amount of manual dexterity with any particular instrument before satisfying music can be produced: i.e., repeating scales on a piano, fingering chords on a guitar, correct bowing of a violin and the like. And, the player must also develop the ability to read music and translate the music into requisite action on the instrument. These two prerequisites prevent many a musician-to-be from developing the ability to make enjoyable music with an instrument.
A player who has acquired these skills can usually play solo parts. While solo piano can be quite pleasant, solo electric guitar, drums or bass may not be. In fact, if the player is a teenager, the genre of music is most likely rock and roll which requires at least three players on three different instruments. Beginners learning to play instruments such as these often play along with recordings. This is helpful at first, but, as the player becomes more skilled, the rigid structure imposed by the recording leaves little room for creative musical expression.
Many electronic instruments have been created to help alleviate these problems. Conventional touch chord organs play a predetermined chord at the press of single key on the keyboard. Also, some organs expand on the chord notion and include prerecorded segments of, for example, an entire "Big Band" playing that chord. Newer organs and synthesizers contain arpeggiators which play repeated patterns. If four keys are held down, the device quickly cycles between the four notes. While these types of innovations do simplify the required mechanical and musical skills, the player still must be familiar with music.
Recently, instruments have appeared (called "drum machines") which create percussive sounds and often are integrated into a keyboard instrument. These instruments permit the construction of rhythm patterns over which the player can add the lead parts from the keyboard. Also, bass machines have been added to contemporary keyboard instruments to generate bass patterns. The combination of these provide background rhythm tracks for the keyboard lead. Features of contemporary instruments do enhance the quality of the music thus created by providing more depth and diversity of sounds, but basic music skills are still required for the keyboard.
In recent years, instruments (and software for personal computers) have appeared that offer simplified music with which the player interacts. A few background tracks are played, perhaps simulating a rock and roll band. The operator can select and play a prerecorded segment "on top of" the back ground. The control over these segments is usually a simple key from the computer keyboard which doesn't provide the feel of a real instrument. Also, such instruments tend to have only a very limited repertoire of background tracks.